It has just been announced that new rules that will make use of images and videos of MPs for satire illegal have passed by a large margin.
These rules not only affects TV programs like One News and 3 News, but it affects everyone, especially those creating independent media such as myself and other bloggers and those on YouTube. Penalties include fines and jail terms.
When you’re banning satire in the digital age, there are blogs out there and there are people out there, doing their own thing on the internet and they are not going to be able to use this footage either. It impinges not just on media freedom, it’s everyone’s freedom — Vernon Small
Why on earth politicians think they are so high-and-mighty is beyond me. It’s not our fault they sleep on the job, pull obscene gestures and yell insults to each other – all in the public eye. If it was a normal business they’d all be out of a job and nothing would stop other employees or people seeing the fault from satirising it. This is all a step too far.
